In many communication networks, e.g., wireless communication networks, neighbor cell lists may be used by terminals to identify cells for which measurements are to be performed. Such measurements may include, for example, signal strength measurements, but are not thus limited. Such measurements may be used for, e.g., cell reselection, handover, cell change order, etc., and may be used by the terminal by the network or by both.
In many communication networks, a neighbor cell list (NCL) may be provided by the network, e.g., via a serving cell (but not necessarily limited thereto), to the terminal (which may be a mobile terminal, such as a handheld telephony device, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), mobile computing device (MCD), electronic book reader (e-reader), or the like, but which is not necessarily limited to mobile terminals), and the terminal may then make measurements of cells in the NCL (which may, in at least some cases, be reported to the network). The terminal may often be required to obtain measurements of all cells in the NCL. If there are a large number of cells in the NCL, a number of issues may arise, including: (1) a given cell may be measured less frequently than is desirable, which may result in less accurate measurements; (2) measurements of a given cell by the terminal may become stale (no longer accurate) due to movement of the terminal; (3) measurements may be made for cells that are not realistic candidates for cell reselection or handover; or (4) excessive battery drain in the case of battery-powered terminals, due to large numbers of measurements being required. These issues may be compounded by the co-existence of radio access networks using different access technologies, which may require that terminals compatible with more than one of the radio access technologies make cell measurements for cells of the co-existing radio access networks. These issues by further be compounded by the existence of smaller cells (e.g., “femtocells,” but not limited thereto), which may result in overlapping cell ranges, more cells in a given area, or both, any of which circumstances may increase the number of cells for measurement.